Bringing High Wage Aerospace Jobs Back to the United States
All aircraft certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to carry passengers or freight must be inspected according to a strict regimen set and monitored by the FAA on a “tail by tail” basis. The series of checks runs from an A check to D checks. The C and D checks require the aircraft to be withdrawn from service for several days to thirty days. A widebody aircraft that is out of service means a loss in revenues of between $200,000 and $250,000 per day.
The key value proposition for this project is that it will significantly reduce the “turnaround time” for a wide body aircraft, resulting in great savings for airline operators. This is accomplished by a proven technological innovation that makes the labor force much more efficient, increasing productivity and improving financial performance. The company owns the technology and the rights thereto.
Located on a retired Strategic Air Command (SAC) base that has been successfully repurposed so that it is able to support this project within an active base of aviation activity, it has all the necessary permits and plans in place to be “shovel ready”. It is within 60 miles of one of the three major hubs for aviation and aerospace in the world. It is easily accessed by all the major wide body aircraft operators in North America and Europe, as well as South America.
Currently, over 50% of the North American wide body fleet cannot have this work done in North America because of a lack of capacity. They must fly their aircraft to Asia to have this necessary service performed. This project will – quite literally – bring up to 3000 jobs back from Asia into the US while saving significant carbon emissions and maintenance costs for air carriers.
The first phase of the project is based on an innovative financial structure that includes equity from institutional and strategic investors, along with the public issuance of tax exempt debt. LIATI is partnering with the management team and bringing both strategic and financial investors to the project to augment the technical resources and leadership to create a “best in class” firm with the capability to fully capitalize on the project’s potential for the benefit of all stakeholders: the host community, labor, management, airline operators and investors.
Additional phases of the project can include both commercial and military applications.